View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives Anne Sine van Marion “BEND THE FISH WHILE IT IS STILL FRESH” Minority parents’ experiences with the Norwegian nature and outdoors discourses in barnehager Master’s Thesis in Childhood Studies May 2013 Department of Norwegian Centre for Child Research, NOSEB Faculty of Social Science and Technology Management Norwegian University fo Science and Technology, NTNU Trondheim, Norway ABSTRACT This study aims at providing an analysis of the experiences of non-Scandinavian minority parents with children in Norwegian barnehager (early childhoood settings) where spending time in nature and the outdoors represents an important part of the programme. The fieldwork and data collection took place in a city in Norway in March to June 2012 and is collected through semi-structured interviews. In the analysis of the data theoretical perspectives of ideas, values and cultural practices within the dominant Norwegian nature and outdoor life discourses and the discourses dominating the view on children and childhood in Norway are utilized. In the analyzing process concepts such as culture, adaptation, reciprocity and resistance have been useful tools to understand the processes of meaning making that take place when people from more cultures meet and have to negotiate and re-negotiate their patterns for life. Theoretical perspectives and ideas of the dominant discourses of the North influencing the views on children and childhood have also been draw on. Due to former colonialization, and to globalization, these ideas have spread to large parts of the world. Structures in society, e.g school systems and curricula are often legacies of the same. The minority parents experience that nature and outdoor life represent both challenges and pleasures. The cold climate and unpredictable weather and cultural practice of being and playing outdoors in the barnehage, represent challenges in terms of clothing for all kinds of weather during all four seasons of the year. Even though they are reluctant to go out themselves, the parents believe that it is important for their children to adjust to the climate and learn to love nature from an early age to be able to thrive in this country. The parents are challenged by their children to take part in outdoor activities. Once they do activities outdoors, these represent pleasures, and the parents tell about the happiness this gives the children. The parents are amazed that the children enjoy being outdoors. The children learn to take part in outdoor play and activities that require special clothes and equipment like skis, sledges, tricycles and the like. This can be experienced as economic as well as practical challenges. Some parents have worries about their children’s health because they are outdoors in all sorts of weather. Their children are encouraged to take part in activities and play that can be risky. From the analysis it appears that some minority parents are worried about their children’s academic learning, and they find there is little academic instruction in the Norwegian barnehage. Some of the parents know they will return to their countries of origin and fear that their children are not prepared for the educational systems in their countries of origin. Despite little emphasis on formal teaching of literacy and numeracy, the parents experience that their children have got other kinds of knowledge. Their children seem to be environmentally conscious children, who zealously separate garbage, are careful with soap and toilet paper and pick up rubbish in the streets. The child-parent roles are at times changed, and the children teach their parents about nature, about observing and listening to birds, about the flora and the fauna. i ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT There are many people that have been supportive during my journey in the production of this thesis. First of all I wish to thank all the parents who willingly set aside their precious time to take part in the interviews, and sharing their experiences with me. A special thank goes to the father who used the Kiswahili proverb that I chose as the title of my thesis: “Bend the fish while it is still fresh”. In Kiswahili it goes: Samaki mkunje yungali (or angali) mbichi. Next I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Vebjørg Tingstad at the Norwegian Centre for Child Reseach (NOSEB). Thank you for the support, guidance and invaluable feedback you provided throughout the project. I wish to thank colleagues for their encouragement, and especially Marit, who patiently listened to my worries and took over parts of my job when I needed some extra time for the study. My gratitude also goes to my peer students at NOSEB who have been so inspirational and fun to study together with, and who generously shared their ideas, views and opinions. Thank you also to the Berit at Bikuben barnehage who provided me with examples of information her barnehage gives to minority parents. Last, but not least, special thanks go to my family who have supported and encouraged me, and never stopped believing in me. Trondheim, May 2013 Anne Sine van Marion iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………….i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………………………iii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………………...v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS …………………………………………………………..viii 1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................1 1.1 Objective the of research project ................................................................................................2 1.2 Previous research..........................................................................................................................3 1.3 Norwegian culture and national identity ....................................................................................4 1.4 Clarification of concepts ..............................................................................................................4 1.4.1 Nature and the outdoors ......................................................................................................5 1.4.2 Minority children and parents in the Norwegian barnehage...............................................5 1.4.3 Risky play as part of the nature and outdoor experience and practice................................5 1.5 Research question .........................................................................................................................5 1.6 Structure of the thesis ..................................................................................................................7 2. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................8 2.1 Use of the term discourse .............................................................................................................8 2.2 Common access to land in Norway .............................................................................................8 2.2.1 The importance of access to nature in the Norwegian cultural context ..............................9 2.3 Historic backdrop for the emergence of child care institutions in Norway ..........................10 2.3.1 From Asylum to barnehage ..............................................................................................11 2.4 Nordic and Norwegian childhood .............................................................................................11 2.4.1 The social democratic Nordic barnehage model ..............................................................12 2.4.2 Playgrounds in towns and cities .......................................................................................13 2.4.3 Norwegian barnehage and the outdoors ...........................................................................14 2.4.4 Outdoor play during the seasons of the year in rural areas ...............................................15 2.4.5 Nature and the outdoors and a sense of belonging ...........................................................16 2.5 View on outdoor play outside the Scandinavian countries .....................................................17 2.5.1 View on play involving risk outside Scandinavia ............................................................17 2.6 Majorities and minorities in the Norwegian society ................................................................18 2.7 Governing documents in the early childhood sector in Norway ............................................20 2.7.1 Minority children in Norway with “barnehage for all” policy .........................................22 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK..................................................................................................23 3.1 Deconstruction of discourses .....................................................................................................24 3.2 Culture as n analyzing concept..................................................................................................25 3.2.1 Everyday life and the home ..............................................................................................25 v 3.2.2 Our life world ...................................................................................................................26 3.2.3 Three different ways of using the concept culture ...........................................................27